Edmonton Juventus wins U-16 Cup boys championship

Edmonton Juventus won the U-16 Cup boys title at the 2016 Sport Chek National Championships. The Alberta club won the national final 1:0 over Manitoba champions Winnipeg Bonivital SC, with Edmonton's David Doe the lone goalscorer in the first half.

The 22 October match was played under an ideal evening in Saskatoon at the Sasktel Sports Centre, less than two weeks after the initial Teck Finals date was postponed after heavy snow conditions made it impossible to play the final in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Winnipeg Bonivital started out the better of the two sides having the run of play for the opening 15 minutes. They were bigger and stronger and looked poised to bring the championship home. Edmonton's winning strike, however, came in the 20th minute after Ibo Jetishi orchestrated the play. Jetishi sent in an unmarked Doe who then neatly chipped the goalkeeper.

The goal sparked the Edmonton team after which they had the run of play for the majority of the first half. They started to move the ball around the Winnipeg defence, creating a few chances that resulted in near misses. In the 40th minute before the half-time whistle, Doe was sent in alone once again by Jetishi, but this time Winnipeg goalkeeper Svyatik Artemenko came up big to stop Doe on the low strike.

In the second half, Winnipeg's Eric Chaput created Bonivital's best chance, cutting inside his defender and curling a shot towards the centre roof of the net. The crowd held their collective breath, but goalkeeper Chris Ezoua got a hand onto it, parrying it over the bar for a Winnipeg corner.

Winnipeg were relentless in their attack desperate for an equalizer, but it never came. Left open at the back, Edmonton were given the opportunity to create a chance or two of their own.

With eight minutes to play, Winnipeg's Thomas Boles took down Doe who was flying through the middle of the park towards goal. It was Boles' second yellow card resulting in an ejection.

Doe had one last chance in the dying minutes after busting up the middle and beating a defender. Doe, however, was again stopped by Artemenko who parried it over the bar.